Bella Thorne received death threats following a relationship drama that involved herself, actor Tyler Posey, and singer Charlie Puth.

The Shake it Up! star came under fire in December (16) after reports linking her to a love triangle with Posey and Puth surfaced, and some of her fans were convinced she was cheating on Tyler when beach pictures of her and the singer appeared online.

She clarified she had split from Tyler weeks before the photos were taken, and insisted she was just friends with Charlie.

The 19-year-old admits the drama has taken a toll on her and she is desperate to return to a positive place in her life.

"It's hard," she tells People magazine. "I was in a happier place (a while ago) than I had been recently and now I'm back to a happier place."

"I went through a breakup and that was kind of tough... Fans, if you're just seen with somebody, they think you're immediately, you gotta be in a relationship with them. Which is not true. I hang out all the time with different people that I'm not dating, that I'm just friends with.

"I hang out with a lot of guys because I'm a total tomboy. So a lot of my friends end up being guys because a lot of girls are like kind of too girly for me sometimes."

Bella even received death threats, because fans believed she was unfaithful in her relationship.

"People take social media as such a big thing," she continues, "and they all think they know what they're talking about. And they think they know your life and they get their friends to trash you. And they get all these people to hate on you and call you whatever names in the book. It's kind of, like, one person says it and then everybody jumps on it. (I) was getting death threats for a hot minute because they thought I had cheated on my ex, which is a total lie."

And she admits it was hard to handle the backlash at times: "When I woke up that morning - it f**king sucks," she says. "It doesn't feel good to think that everybody in the world just thinks you're an absolutely disgusting person.

"People think that, like, we don't get bullied in Hollywood - but we do. We get bullied by the public eye and fans... and it f**king hurts. You think that I'm not seeing these comments, but I do see them and it doesn't feel good. Especially when they're lies!"

Bella is hoping to turn her negative 2016 into a positive 2017 by becoming a role model for others tormented by bullies.

"I'm letting kids know, like, 'If somebody's being rude to you, you have the right to stick up for yourself'," she adds. "When I see (bullying) on other people's pages, I respond because it irks me to my core... That is not cool! It's not normal to sit there and look at somebody's photo and go, 'I hate their nose, I hate their lips. Her face is ugly. She's such a whore.' No! What is wrong with you?"